Experience with Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy.

Information on provision of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in critically ill children from developing countries is limited. The authors describe their experience in 17 children with hypotension and acute kidney injury (AKI) with fluid overload or electrolyte imbalance managed by 20 sessions of CRRT. The median (range) age and weight were 6 y (0.75-18) and 20 kg (6.2-42), respectively. All patients were receiving inotropic agents; nine had fluid overload (19 %, range 11-34.1 %) and ten had severe AKI. Median clearance and filter-life were 2171.4 ml/1.73 m(2)/h (1730.6-4405.8) and 69.7 h (2.8-98.3), respectively. Complications were catheter flow related (n = 1), filter clotting (n = 3), hemorrhage (n = 3), hypokalemia (n = 16) and hypophosphatemia (n = 11). Eight patients (47.1 %) survived; the median PRISM III score of survivors was significantly lower than non survivors (10.5 vs.17.0; P 0.02). Renal function recovered in the survivors emphasizing the role of this modality in managing critically ill patients.